The Splinter Cell series consists of only two games thus far, but that pair of games have done wonders for the stealth-action genre. The first Splinter Cell catapulted stealth gaming to where it currently resides. Even by today’s standards, it’s a very fun and engaging game to play, from a series born on the PC that made a great jump to the GameCube with a high quality game. The same line was followed with the sequel Pandora Tomorrow, with another home run for Ubisoft on the GameCube. Sam’s third outing, Chaos Theory, is going to bring the multiplayer element so missing for the GameCube in the form of cooperative missions that are shaping up to be pretty impressive. The single player mission is looking to be outstanding also, adding new moves to the already agile Sam Fisher. Now, Chaos Theory is nearing it’s release date.

Does Chaos Theory bring anything exciting to the series? It does, and in a new and at the same time expected fashion. The Splinter Cell series will probably always have a great single player experience but Chaos Theory takes the series to the next level by not only adding a multiplayer element, but a cooperative mode that will be more engaging experience. For fans of the series (especially GameCube owners), the co-op will sound heavenly, and the scenarios were specifically designed for this mode. Try to imagine something like 007: Everything or Nothing in terms of cooperative modes. The maps for this mode were different from those found in the confrontational and single player modes. If all this is not cooperative enough, add the fact that if your teammate dies it’s “Game Over, man!” Now you really have to work with your partner with a lot of coordination. Also, you can’t blame your partner for dying and not doing anything about it because both players can heal another via an adrenaline shot. Aside from forcing the gamer’s mind to play cooperatively, Chaos Theory brings moves exclusively for this mode. These moves obviously need two players in tandem to pull them off and there’s also a case-sensitive co-op button. Players that have experienced a cooperative mode in other games, and have played any of the Splinter Cell games, will get a better idea of what Chaos Theory will be in that respect and, consequently, these gamers will be more excited about the game.

With the promising cooperative mode, one could forget the single player mode. This is where Splinter Cell took off in the first place, and in Chaos Theory it’s revamped. The cool moves, handy gadgets and firepower are back as Fisher’s allies. The great A.I. from previous games just got better, and it promises to be an even more challenging game than before. Besides the challenge, Chaos Theory also aims to have more replay value. If the games before had it, now it’s going to be more tempting to go back and play the missions again because there are going to be different ways to finishing them. The game promises to really allow the player to end a mission being a total shadow, without alerting anyone and without bloodshed. Or you can take the big guns out and end all enemies to reach your goals. All in all, it should be more open-ended than the previous efforts.

Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory looks impressive and promising, even more so than the hyped Pandora Tomorrow thanks to the new features the game will have. Any serious gamer has to be excited about this game. If you haven’t played any of the games in the series, then you probably aren’t a serious gamer, and you have to try them out. Fans of Splinter Cell games and stealth games in general don’t need to be told that Chaos Theory will be one of the best games this year.